Tennis: Seeds roll as rain slows play

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Two more seeds took the fast lane out and top seed Jiri Novak went perilously close to joining them on another rain-ruined day at the Heineken Open yesterday.

Novak eventually got up to beat American qualifier Robby Ginepri 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals.

That proved beyond third-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and American sixth seed Jan-Michael Gambill.

For Gambill, his 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (4-7) loss to 2001 winner Dominik Hrbaty, of Slovakia, ended his fourth visit to the ASB Tennis Centre.

On Wednesday night he and Graydon Oliver had bowed out of the doubles in the most dramatic match of the tournament so far - again in a third-set tiebreaker.

The last of the four morning matches to start, the Gambill-Hrbaty clash soon became a tight battle.

With two first game aces, Gambill showed he was in business. But not for long. A mixture of an ace and two double faults in his second service game gave Hrbaty the advantage and eventually the set.

The second set see-sawed, with Gambill blowing one set point before taking it in a tiebreaker, but not before he had smashed his racket.

After a titanic battle, Gambill held serve in the opening game of the third set which continued with serve to 6-6.

Aided by his 20th ace, Gambill led 3-2 in the tiebreaker. It was then all downhill. He went down 4-7.

Of the racket-breaking incident, Gambill saw it as no drama.

"Smashing a racket is no big deal. I think [umpire] Gerry Armstrong made a good call. He saw that I did not mean to break it. And, hey, it's my racket."

Hrbaty, who had lost his three previous matches with Gambill, was happy to turn that around, despite blowing match point in the second-set tiebreak.

"I spoke to Stefan Koubeck [who beat Gambill in Doha last week] and worked out a game plan," Hrbaty said. "He told me to stay in the rallies with him and wait for the unforced errors."

That, and a first serve percentage of 69, were the difference.

Novak played the first set against Ginepri as though he had forgotten to get out of bed.

Inside 22 minutes the first set was gone. Ginepri, ranked 99 places lower than Novak at 106 and meeting the Czech for the first time, took it 6-1.

Twenty-year-old Ginepri was not done with. He made the top seed and 1996 champion battle all the way to a second set tiebreaker which he lost 6-8.

Novak upped the pace to get home 6-3 in the third set to face a quarter-final clash with Spaniard Felix Mantilla, who had few problems in beating Dane Kenneth Carlsen in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Gonzalez said he "never felt good" after losing his first clash with Spain's David Ferrer 4-6, 3-6.

"He [Ferrer] surprised me. He played a great match. It was close.

"It was good to get two matches here. I like this place. I'll come back."

Fernando Vicente's hopes of joining Ferrer and Mantilla as a third Spaniard in the quarters were dashed when he was beaten by seventh-seeded Argentine Guillermo Coria.

After his 6-2, 6-2 win, Coria had plenty of time to fill in as he awaited his opponent in the last eight.

In a much-interrupted affair, crowd favourite and fourth seed Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) and American qualifier Michael Russell spent more time in the locker room than on court, dodging the persistent light rain.

After sharing the first two sets at 6-4, Russell, in the opening game of the third, trailed 0-30 when the rain intervened.

They were back on court briefly, but seconds before they should have resumed, the rain sent them scurrying.

The Open is heading for a busy final day tomorrow, with the semifinals and finals scheduled.

The unfinished second-round singles are set to resume this morning. Some singles quarter-finals have been rescheduled for a noon start. Doubles will be played as players become available.